The USU Eastern men’s basketball team took to the court on Wednesday night as part of  Fan Appreciation Night and they welcomed the College of Southern Idaho to the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center. This was a hard fought contest from beginning to end but with the crowd behind them USU Eastern earned the 64-60 win.

With free admission, food, snacks and giveaways the crowd was ready for more action after the Lady Eagles defeated the CSI ladies, the No. 5 team in the country. The men would take to the floor hoping to duplicate their success.

The first half was played almost even as the Eagles would score first on an Isaac Castagnetto jumper.  CSI would stay within striking distance until about the 15:00 mark, when they would take a slim one point lead off a three-pointer from Madit Lueeth for the first and last time in the contest.

Heading into the second half, USU Eastern methodically kept adding to their lead and keeping CSI at arm’s length with their defense. Obenga Olubi would push the Eagles lead to 16 with just under 13:00 left to go, it was at this point that CSI picked up their intensity and started to chop away at the USU Eastern lead.

The CSI comeback would cut the Eagles lead to two points after a three pointer by Chris James with just 0:51 left on the clock. After time-outs by both teams, a missed three point attempt would bring CSI’s rally to and end after a rebound by Castagnetto and a foul, it was a matter of making sure both free throws fell putting the score at 64-60 and sealing the victory.

Kurt Wegscheider led all scorers with 16, pulling down three rebounds and grabbing three steals along the way. Wegscheider has been averaging just over 14 points per game for the Eagles this season.

Payton Falslev and Castagnetto both went for 12 with five boards. And BJ Davis handed out eight assists for the Eagles in the win.

The men have four games left on the regular season schedule before the Region 18 tournament begins on Feb.24.

USU Eastern will head back to the court with a home contest against Salt Lake Community College on Saturday.

SLCC will enter the contest with a 24-0 record and are ranked No. 1 in the nation. January 22 was the last time these two hooked up and the Eagles were handed a 80-63 loss.

The game on Saturday is set to begin at 3:00. You can listen to the action live on KOAL 107.3 FM or 750 AM, you can also stream the game at: castlecountryradio.com